this week, music from the king of lae, waiphot phetsuphan! hailing from central thailand's suphan buri province, waiphot has for nearly half a century been among the biggest names in luk thung. born into a musical family, waiphot was trained from the age of 2 in a range of local styles. at 14 he joined a local liké theatre troupe, and at 16 won his first song contest. he was discovered shortly after by singer chaichanabunnachot, who introduced him to ruam daokrachai bandleader samniang muangthong. waiphot was greatly respected by audiences and fellow singers alike for his expertise in traditional forms and his uniquely powerful voice. this cassette, with side 2 featuring one of his prominent latter-day proteges, kaeo sarika, is a collection of lae focusing on his home province. the styles range from low-key ballads to up-tempo disco numbers, all imbued with lae rhythm & inflection. enjoy!!

enchanting songs of thailand

a collection of great music made by the people of thailand; luk thung, luk krung, molam, regional folk styles & more. mostly recorded from tape, sound quality should be pretty good (unless stated otherwise). transliteration is done using the royal thai general system of transcription. feedback/re-upload requests/etc. always appreciated!